Lavrov: Russia’s relations with EU, NATO need ‘rethinking’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated, during talks with his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak, that Russia’s relations with the EU and NATO need to be reviewed.

“We will discuss international affairs, including the
European situation, on what is happening in relations between
Russia and the EU, and in the NATO-Russia Council in regard to
the crisis in Ukraine,” Lavrov said in the talks with
Lajcak, who arrived in Russia on a working visit on Sunday.

“These relations require essential rethinking, and with both
our partners in the European Union and with NATO member states we
are trying to conduct an analysis in order to better understand
where we are, what our coinciding assessments are, and where we
have disagreements,” Lavrov added.

During the meeting, Lavrov also spoke out about the detention of
two Russian journalists by Kiev’s military on Sunday, demanding
their immediate release.

“We are concerned that during combat actions, which are led
by [Ukrainian] armed forces with the participation of radicals,
extremists, militants of the Right Sector and other groups, some
journalists are suffering. Very often they are detained, faced
with fictitious demands, which do not fit into generally
recognized norms. The latter concerns two journalists from the LifeNews channel,”
Lavrov stated.

The rhetoric follows NATO foreign ministers saying last month
they were suspending practical cooperation and military ties with
Russia over the Ukrainian crisis. However, the contacts of the
NATO-Russia Council (NRC) at the level of ambassadors and higher
would continue, the bloc stated.

Russian officials have repeatedly said that Moscow was not
seeking confrontation with NATO, but was ready to take all
political and military measures to ensure its security.

Since March, the US and EU have imposed targeted sanctions
against Russian officials, freezing their assets and banning them
from obtaining visas; this includes action against 17 Russian
companies.

Moscow has repeatedly declared that the language of sanctions is
"inappropriate and counterproductive" and warned its
Western partners about the "boomerang effect" that
sanctions would have.